Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Larry King Weekend
Encore Presentation: Interview With Cast of 'Everybody Loves Raymond'
Aired July 21, 2002 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND")
PATRICIA HEATON, ACTRESS: Did you ever think of hugging me, you jerk?
RAY ROMANO, ACTOR: Well, it is pretty hard to hug someone who is trying to kill you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, they dominate the ratings, and now they're poised to dominate the Emmys. Everybody gets a nomination for "Everybody Loves Raymond." They are Ray Romano, nominated best actor, Patricia Heaton, going after her third best actress Emmy. Doris Roberts is up for best supporting actress. Peter Boyle's been nominated for best supporting actor. And his competition for that award is Brad Garrett. It's a family reunion next on LARRY KING WEEKEND.
Thanks for joining us. The entire cast of "Everybody Loves Raymond" got some good news Thursday -- all were nominated for Emmys. The show is up for 11 -- 11 awards in all, including its fourth straight nomination for best comedy. We talked with the show's incredibly talented cast back in March, and I started off with an admission of sorts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: I might say from the outside, "Everybody Loves Raymond" is my favorite show. And the reason I get to see it is it is on opposite us, Eastern time. However, I get to go home Monday nights and watch it at 9:00 when we're being repeated, Western time.
So, see, even though you are on opposite us, we salute you.
(CROSSTALK)
Thank you very much for coming.
ROMANO: You can get a free Tivo, can't you?
KING: Yes, I guess so. Make the right move. Ray, by the way, Ray Romano, who plays Ray Barone, will be featured as Manfred the Mammoth in the new animated feature "Ice Age", which is going to be -- predicted one of the major hits of the spring. Patricia Heaton is writing a book about motherhood and Hollywood. Doris Roberts is going to co-star in movie called "All Over The Guy." Peter Boyle is co-star in the hit new movie "Monster's Ball. And Brad Garrett will head to Broadway this summer to star in -- are you going to play the lawyer?
BRAD GARRETT, ACTOR: No. Actually, I'm understudying Bea Arthur in "The One-Woman Show."
(LAUGHTER)
You know, I've never done my own stunts.
KING: You thought of that all day, I'll bet, right? Are you going to be the lawyer in "Chicago"?
GARRETT: I'm not going to be the lawyer, actually. I'm going to be Amos Hart. I'm going to be...
KING: Mr. Cellophane.
GARRETT: Mr. Cellophane.
KING: That's a great part. Originally played...
GARRETT: By Joel Grey. So you know if...
KING: Who is 5'1".
GARRETT: Yes. Well, it is called the 200-pound casting change is what it is.
KING: Give me a little genesis, Ray, of the history of "Everybody Loves Raymond", since it's about you?
ROMANO: Yes. Well, I was doing stand-up for about 12 years. And then I did a David Letterman spot. And a week later, the Letterman producer, Rob Burnett (ph), called me and said we're interested in trying to develop a show just based on what they saw, my stand-up, which was talking about my family.
KING: You talked about your wife and your kid?
ROMANO: Yes, and my family, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and my kids, yes. And we said fine. They pitch it to CBS. I met Phil Rosenthal. We cast these people and here we are.
KING: This is, therefore, a Letterman show?
ROMANO: He's one of our producers, Worldwide Pants, HBO and CBS. Those are the three people that pay us.
KING: All right. Let's now find out how each of you got the part. Doris?
DORIS ROBERTS, ACTRESS: I believe over 100 women read for this part. And, at that time, I was directing a play and I didn't have any time. They said I had an appointment at CBS at 3:30 on a Monday. I said, I can't. I've got 23 people and music and all. They said, yes, we talked to your producer. You're going in 3:30 on Monday afternoon. And I did. And here I am, six years later.
KING: And, Patricia, how did you get it?
HEATON: I'm the only actress in the audition that would actually kiss Ray. And so, I beat out about 1,000 actresses. They called everybody. They actually asked Doris to do this part and she refused to kiss Ray also.
ROMANO: Patty was -- she was the last one cast. Everyone else was in place and we couldn't find the wife. And we read everybody. And it came about a week to go. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) already made his choice and we didn't like his choice. And you came in and saved the day.
KING: Peter Boyle, you didn't have to audition, did you? Come on. You're Peter Boyle.
HEATON: They wouldn't even let him in at the gate, right?
PETER BOYLE, ACTOR: They wouldn't let me in at the gate, Larry. That's what it is really like.
GARRETT: Well, he was wearing no pants. So that should tell you the whole story.
BOYLE: I was out here with -- and my kids were visiting from back East because I live back in Manhattan and my girls go to school there.
KING: I know. You do a lot of Broadway.
BOYLE: No, I don't.
KING: I've seen you on Broadway.
BOYLE: But we couldn't get on the lot. Then we couldn't get a parking space. Then when we finally got all of that worked out, we went to where the office -- and they said, no, the auditions are being held in another place. So when I walked in, Ray and Phil were there and I was enraged.
ROMANO: You were in character.
BOYLE: You're darn right I was in character!
KING: He came in ticked?
BOYLE: I was sweating and yelling and...
ROMANO: And we said, you got it.
KING: That's the guy. Because these two are teamed natural. I mean...
ROMANO: Yes. But, actually, Peter was Les Moonves. You came and met with us, but you didn't even have to. Les Moonves was saying I'm going to give it to Peter Boyle.
(CROSSTALK)
BOYLE: Les Moonves was an actor, did you know that?
KING: No.
BOYLE: He actually, a few years ago. And I worked with him in a show that he produced called "Midnight Caller."
KING: I remember -- Darren McGavin.
BOYLE: No, no, Gary Cole.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Oh, Gary -- that was a serious show.
BOYLE: Yes.
KING: Now, you, Brad Garrett.
GARRETT: It was down to me and seven chimps. And, you know, I love to wear sweaters. And, actually, I think I was one of the first to cast. And Ray went, no way, not the giant Jew. No! Actually, I got Les Moonves in a headlock. He's a tiny man.
KING: How many guys tried out for this part?
ROMANO: Well, he was the one that they told me -- I was in New York at the time before I came out for the casting. And they said we think we're going to go with Brad Garrett. And this was based on my brother in real life, who is about 5'10".
KING: He's a cop, though, right?
ROMANO: Yes, he's a cop. So it kind of threw me a little because I knew Brad from stand-up comedy.
GARRETT: That's where you were from.
ROMANO: Right.
KING: Did any of you think truthfully that it would be the hit it is?
ROBERTS: The first script...
HEATON: Ray's still worried.
ROBERTS: He doesn't think it's a hit. No, the script, the writing was fabulous. KING: And you knew that right away?
ROBERTS: Yes. There was a particular section that was just dynamite. I thought it would be a classic.
KING: Because the first thing is the writing, isn't it?
ROBERTS: Absolutely.
KING: If that don't...
ROBERTS: And then you cast it perfectly and then you give it to wonderful actors like this group and then you've got a great hit.
KING: Did you think it would be a hit, Patricia?
HEATON: I knew that the writing was really great in the pilot, so I was always positive. My deal is I go out and buy something I can't afford like a house or something. And then that kind of guarantees that it has to work because otherwise I can't pay for it. Didn't I go out and buy a house?
ROMANO: Yes, but you got to buy something real big now.
KING: Did you think it would be a hit, Peter?
BOYLE: When we were doing the pilot, there's a certain point where it just really hit me that it was really working. I knew it was a terrific pilot. I knew it was...
ROMANO: It was like a chemistry there.
KING: Brad, did you think it would be a hit?
GARRETT: No. I watched Ray in the pilot. I thought I was going to lose my house. Third or the fourth show, where they finally said I no longer have to get dressed with Peter.
KING: Did it originally play Monday night at 9:00?
GARRETT: Larry, how can you ask me that? You're throwing me off. What's the question? Let me finish it, please. Saskatchewan, hello. Could you turn down the radio? Larry, turn down your tie!
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Just a little hyper. It's OK.
ROMANO: Let him go.
GARRETT: But, see, like in the show because...
KING: Did I cut you off?
GARRETT: All day. But that's no big deal. It's like, how did you get the audition, what happened on Broadway, Doris? I'm getting a little, you know...
KING: Do you feel like you're left out?
GARRETT: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
KING: Let me take a break, Brad, and we'll compose ourselves and come back. We'll come back.
We'll be right back with the cast of "Everybody Loves Raymond". All of them are actors except Brad, who is actually the part. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND")
ROMANO: Either way, your perfect little Connecticut, oh, oh, make sure you cut the crust off my cucumber sandwich parents are frauds.
HEATON: You listen. If my parents lit an orphanage on fire on Christmas Eve, they wouldn't be as bad as your parents, huh?
ROMANO: Yes.
Is that the turkey?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND")
ROBERTS: How did your interview go?
GARRETT: Come here. Let me tell you about it.
ROBERTS: Didn't it go well?
GARRETT: Oh, it was going OK, and then Agent Garfield read me a letter about crazy Robert in his lucky suit.
HEATON: What?
ROBERTS: I never said crazy.
ROMANO: Mom, what did you do?
GARRETT: She faxed the FBI a letter about how she ruined my lucky suit.
ROBERTS: I wasn't sure it went through, it's the first time I ever used a fax machine.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: By the way, this program did win the best written comedy series award at the Writers Guild on last Saturday night. And it is...
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Well deserved. And has many nominations for the SAG Awards, the Screen Actors Guild coming this Sunday night. Ray will not be there for the awards, because he's at the premiere of "Ice Age."
ROMANO: But I'm up against Mr. Peter Boyle. So...
KING: How did they figure that out?
HEATON: They lump all these supporting actors together.
BOYLE: They go for names, and then they go for talent.
KING: Do you hope he wins?
BOYLE: Yeah.
ROMANO: Or if I win, he's going to go up and take it. So either way.
KING: Either way.
BOYLE: Well, if you win, I'm going to take it and I'm going to keep it.
ROMANO: Right.
GARRETT: You know, I figured out why I was not nominated.
KING: Why?
GARRETT: I'm not union. And it's the SAG Awards.
KING: I see.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Is it true that you didn't like and still don't like the title of that show?
ROMANO: Yeah. I'm learning to live with it now.
KING: Why didn't you like it?
ROMANO: "Everybody Loves Raymond" -- first of all, you're a stand-up comic, you have very low self-esteem to begin with. And you know, no, no, it's true.
KING: In other words, you think that nobody loves you.
ROMANO: It was a title that, first of all, the critics...
HEATON: It invites...
ROMANO: Yeah, it invites hatred.
KING: "Everybody Loves Raymond," but this guy.
ROMANO: Who is this guy? Who is this guy? Let's see how I love him. So I was worried about that. It came about from a sarcastic comment my brother made, who is a police officer. And he said, "look what I do for a living, and look at Raymond -- yeah, everybody loves Raymond." So we used it as a working title. And it just grew on CBS, and we couldn't get rid of it.
KING: Now, the show is you about you. How much of it really is about you?
ROMANO: Well, that was where we started with, based on all the characters in my life and kind of a situation I was living. But it's a combination. Phil Rosenthal (ph), our executive producer, it's his parents also. And every writer in -- we have 10 great writers, and every one of them brings something from their life.
KING: How do the real people like the people who are playing them?
ROMANO: My -- in the beginning, I took a lot of heat from my mother for the way the brother was portrayed. Because...
KING: She loves him.
GARRETT: I go with my gut, Larry.
ROMANO: No, no. No, no. My brother -- by the way, Brad, God bless Brad, we didn't write it that way. He came in and brought this character to it.
KING: You mean he brought that character into that writing?
ROMANO: Yes. We -- my brother is, like I say, a cop, a 5'11" with an attitude. And Brad brought this slant to it. I don't know quite how to describe it.
KING: So your mother didn't like that?
ROMANO: Well, my brother was -- he is a retired cop now, but at the time he would take a lot of stuff from the other cops. They think it's a documentary.
BOYLE: They beat him up with their pistols.
ROMANO: No, they were just...
KING: Does your wife like Pat?
ROMANO: Patty? Yeah. She does like her, because she doesn't take any crap from me either, you know, Patty. She likes that Patty doesn't -- I'm not going to, you know, in a sense doesn't like me the way my wife doesn't like me. For the same reason my wife hates me, Patty hates me.
KING: And does your dad like the way Doris plays the mom?
ROMANO: Yeah, he doesn't -- my father's constant thing is, you know, the guys at the Elks say I could play myself.
KING: You don't need Peter Boyle.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Do you all know the people you play?
ROBERTS: Yes.
HEATON: Yes.
GARRETT: Yes.
ROBERTS: Both families, both his parents and both Phil's parents.
ROMANO: The mother is more out of Phil's life, I would say.
HEATON: And I keep encouraging Ray's wife to spend, spend, spend. That way, he'll have to keep doing the show and we'll stay on for a long time.
ROMANO: And I mean, it's working.
HEATON: And it's working, yes.
KING: You're committed for how many, another three years?
ROMANO: I think we're one more year contractually, but you know, then, of course, we just see how it goes and we'll do some more.
KING: And you know the real brother?
GARRETT: I do.
KING: Do you get along? Truthfully?
GARRETT: Awful man.
KING: You don't like him?
GARRETT: No, no. Rich is wonderful. We've had dinner a few times, and I took him to Melrose baths once. And it was a little disappointing. But no, he's a great guy. He's a real, wonderful hero. And he likes me a lot more than Ray. See, there's the pathos.
KING: Does -- all of you, the veterans here, for a success -- for a show to be successful, does the cast have to like each other? A baseball team could be successful and the shortstop and the second basemen sometimes don't speak.
BOYLE: It didn't have to be like a -- you have to like playing with each other.
ROBERTS: This is very unusual.
BOYLE: The playing, and also the way we get along...
KING: It's unusual that everybody gets along?
ROBERTS: Absolutely. Not only gets along, but trusts each other, which is the most important point. Really, really.
KING: So you can be a hit without that?
ROBERTS: Well, I was on a show called "Remington Steele," where the other two didn't speak to each other.
GARRETT: Doris, Doris, we're on television.
ROBERTS: I know. By now, honey, that's a...
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: ... but there's a lot of that, because there's a lot of envy.
KING: So it can still work.
ROBERTS: It can still work, but not the way it does here. That's what's so wonderful about it. I'm dead serious about it. It's fun to go to work.
ROMANO: It's boring, though, because the tabloids...
GARRETT: There's nothing...
(CROSSTALK)
GARRETT: The tabloids don't know what to say. I mean, they say I threw Ray into the audience.
KING: That's the only thing we could find, my crack staff.
GARRETT: Yes.
KING: Find that "The National Enquirer" ran a story that you grabbed Ray for a scene, lifted him up, accidentally smashed his skull into an overhead mike, knocking him out cold.
ROMANO: I think that was one of your dreams.
(CROSSTALK)
GARRETT: You know, I have the strength of five Irish women, Larry. A lot of people don't know how large I am. I couldn't... KING: You're 6-foot-8.
GARRETT: I couldn't lift his wallet. I'll be honest with you.
(CROSSTALK)
GARRETT: You know, Jewish people, we don't fight. We make a phone call.
KING: So that never happened?
(CROSSTALK)
GARRETT: ... put on the holster...
(CROSSTALK)
GARRETT: Turn down your TV! Put your electric blanket on seven! Unplug the hydrocollator!
ROMANO: The what?
GARRETT: Hydrocollator.
KING: You do me in your act, don't you?
GARRETT: Yeah. No, I'm working on it. You know, he thinks it's not right on.
ROMANO: I think there's a Charles Nelson Reilly thing in there that you got to get out.
GARRETT: Well, I don't really think so.
KING: That sounds a little...
GARRETT: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). I would never do that. But Larry, it's like, you know, can you hear me? I love it. I once heard Larry and I didn't even have my TV on.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: We'll be right back with the cast of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Lots more to come. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND")
GARRETT: So Debra can now cook. The missing color in the Raymond rainbow.
BOYLE: You should ask Debra how she makes this.
ROBERTS: I should ask Debra? I should ask Debra? Give me that.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND")
GARRETT: Sure, I put on a big show about how ma loves Raymond better and dad's an ogre, but they do take care of me.
HEATON: Oh, OK.
GARRETT: I've got a place to sleep, laundry. The food is unbelievable!
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: We'll get back to the "Everybody Loves Raymond" story. Let's catch up a little bit on what they're currently doing. Peter, are you surprised at "Monster's Ball's" success?
BOYLE: Yes, because it's a very heavy script and a heavy, intense, shocking movie.
KING: And you were able to do that while doing also "Everybody Loves Raymond"?
BOYLE: Well, actually, we take a hiatus every year, so I did it last hiatus. We shot it in New Orleans.
KING: Do you like comedy as much as drama?
BOYLE: Yes, but I believe they're the same technique, though. One thing I want to say about the characters, and the real characters we play in "Ray," I can always tell when I'm right on, when I yell at Ray, there's a look in his eyes. There's a certain kind of...
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Did you enjoy being Frankenstein?
BOYLE: Yeah.
ROBERTS: He still does.
KING: One of the classic roles of all time.
BOYLE: I got the girl. I was a great lover.
KING: Great scene when he smokes at the end. Mel Brooks, wild to work with, right?
BOYLE: Oh, yeah.
KING: Doris, you've done everything, right?
ROBERTS: Yeah.
KING: You were Marie -- you are Marie on "Everybody Loves Raymond," and you -- what's "All Over The Guy"?
ROBERTS: "All Over the Guy" is a movie that's -- it's a gay movie, actually. A gay theme. But it has other characters in it. And it's quite a wonderful movie, I think. And it's very straightforward and honest.
KING: Who do you play?
ROBERTS: I play a woman who runs an HIV clinic. And there's a back story about her.
KING: Independent film?
ROBERTS: Yes.
ROMANO: Is it -- did it come out? When is it out?
ROBERTS: It's out. But I did 20 years on Broadway before I came out here.
KING: I know. You do a lot of plays.
ROBERTS: A lot of plays.
KING: "Ice Age" is -- everyone's talking about that -- this could be a big hit. What...
ROMANO: Got a little buzz to it.
KING: What's the theme? It's a PG.
ROMANO: I play a woolly mammoth.
HEATON: Is it PG?
ROMANO: Yes.
HEATON: What's in it?
ROMANO: Just moments of peril.
(LAUGHTER)
HEATON: All right.
KING: You're a woolly mammoth?
ROMANO: Yes, the mother...
HEATON: No sexual innuendo.
ROMANO: No, no sexual innuendo.
HEATON: All right.
ROMANO: But the mother does -- the mother of the baby kinds of drowns him.
HEATON: OK.
KING: What was it like being the voice of an animal?
ROMANO: Well, I mean, just doing the voice-over was weird. I mean, animal or no animal, you're playing a human quality anyway. So -- but it was just odd, because you're used to voice-overs. I was like not used to -- first of all, there's no actor there...
KING: You're by yourself.
ROMANO: Yes. We tried to hook it up, but it never hooked up. And you can't move. You know, you have to play a fight scene, and you have to stay within this little box in front of the microphone. So the first three recording session, I told my manager, each time I go, I think I'm getting fired. I really don't think I'm doing it. And he said, no, they say they love you. And I go, well, are you going to believe what they say?
KING: Everybody loves you.
ROMANO: But it looks good. I've seen, really, the computer, the animation.
KING: Do you do the same voice?
ROMANO: Yeah. I do the same voice. That's another thing. Everyone else -- every other character was cartooning up their voice, and they said, no, just do what you're doing.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Now, it is acting, isn't it?
ROMANO: Well, I was playing a different character. I mean, I was doing my same voice, but the attitude was -- yes, that is acting, I guess.
KING: You're writing a book, Pat?
HEATON: Yeah, it's almost done.
KING: Called "Motherhood in Hollywood"?
HEATON: "Mother in Hollywood, or How to Get a Job Like Mine."
KING: So you have children?
HEATON: I have four boys, 3, 4, 6 and 8. And it's just sort of kind of humorous essays about growing up in Cleveland and struggling in New York and making it in L.A.
KING: What does your husband do?
HEATON: He's an actor, producer, and he's British. Very unlike Ray.
KING: How many nannies?
HEATON: Just one.
KING: One with four?
HEATON: Yeah.
KING: And you go to work every day?
HEATON: We do four days a week now. We have pretty good hours, about 10:00 to 4:00, except on the day we shoot.
KING: Do you do other acting away from the show?
HEATON: I usually do a little movie over the hiatus. I don't have anything lined up yet, but, you know.
KING: And you're going into "Chicago." Right? Is this your first Broadway thing?
GARRETT: Yes, it is.
KING: Excited?
GARRETT: I'm very excited. Yeah. I am. I'm looking forward to it.
HEATON: Except he's singing on the set all the time, which is kind of...
(CROSSTALK)
KING: He sings one of the best songs on Broadway, called "Mr. Cellophane." A tough number to do.
GARRETT: Well, they had to, you know, do it in the key -- they had to rewrite it in the key, because you know Joel. He's way up there. So they rewrote it in the key of Z.
KING: You're not a singer?
GARRETT: No, but I started in dance, Larry. I started in dance. I'm a hoofer.
ROMANO: Is there dancing?
GARRETT: There's a little movement.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: You haven't seen the show? A great show. ROMANO: I will, though, I will.
KING: No, what happened -- I didn't cut you off.
GARRETT: You're keeping it going.
KING: He cut you off, and I responded to him. I know what I'm doing.
GARRETT: What's the question?
KING: He cut you off and I know what I'm doing.
GARRETT: There's no callers. Montreal, hello!
KING: Do you still do stand-up?
GARRETT: You know, Ray said, he looked at me and said, you know, we're going one more year, get out the puppies. So I've started just recently again to do stand-up, and it's, you know, it's a tough process.
KING: You get to do it, Ray? We saw you do it last week.
(CROSSTALK)
GARRETT: He headlines the Mirage, and he's unbelievable.
ROMANO: During the hiatus, I do like a couple weekends in Vegas, and I do a little like a one-week tour across some cities. We got a Midwest tour lined up this year.
KING: Do you still enjoy it?
ROMANO: Yeah, I mean, that's the only reason I do it.
HEATON: He doesn't need the money, is that what you're saying? I don't either.
ROMANO: Well, the money's nice, but I like to get out of the house, too.
KING: What's it like to have wealth suddenly?
ROMANO: You tell me.
KING: Oh, OK.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: But I ask the questions. No, I mean, to become almost instantly famous.
ROMANO: You know what? Well, it wasn't instantly.
KING: I mean, certainly you were known in the stand-up world. ROMANO: Right, right.
KING: But now you got known in the world beyond that.
ROMANO: Yes, but it was a slow build. You know, a TV show is a slow build. But it doesn't change. I said this on Letterman, that the problems are the same, they're just at a different level. You know, before I would think, my cab driver hates me. Now I think my limo driver hates me.
KING: Still the same inferiority complex.
ROMANO: Cranks up a notch. Yeah, sure.
KING: Our guests is -- our guests are -- is -- our guests are the cast from "Everybody Loves -- don't, don't correct me.
GARRETT: I won't do it.
KING: "Everybody Loves Raymond," my favorite show, and don't forget to watch the SAG Awards on Sunday night. My prediction is they will win in all categories. What are you going to do? Three categories nominated, right?
We'll be back with more right after this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND")
ROMANO: No guy wants to see his ex go out with a friend. Just because he freaked out doesn't mean he loves her, OK? Don't you two think you've done enough? Robert, let me tell you what they did, OK?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND")
ROMANO: Oh, baby, does that feel good. Oh, come here.
What are you doing?
ROBERTS: Trying to help you relax.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Let's re-introduce our group for late tuners-in. Used to love to say that. Ray Romano, who plays Ray Barone on "Everybody Loves Raymond", 9:00 p.m. Monday nights on CBS; Patricia Heaton, who plays his wife, Debra; Doris Roberts, who plays his mom, Marie; Peter Boyle, who plays his dad Frank; and Brad Garrett, who plays Ray's brother Robert.
You know, we left this earlier, but when this show first went on, it wasn't on Mondays at 9:00, right?
ROBERTS: Friday nights at 8:30.
KING: And you were buried?
ROBERTS: Absolutely buried.
KING: So what happened? Did CBS move it? Did they have faith in it?
HEATON: The critics were so positive about it. And I think it encouraged Les Moonves to give us a shot on Monday night. But he basically said, you're going to get this shot and if it doesn't do better, that's going to be it.
ROMANO: The last six weeks of the first year, he put us on Monday. And we had to deliver then because otherwise, he would have good reason to get rid of us.
KING: And you did deliver right away?
HEATON: It shot right up. Right in the first week, it was like No. 24.
ROMANO: No. I think the first week we came in 12.
HEATON: 12th.
KING: Nice feeling to have a hit.
ROBERTS: Great feeling.
ROMANO: It still took a while. Still was a -- it's a good, gradual build. It's a word of mouth show that is now...
ROBERTS: And still building as a result through syndication.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Basically, Peter, Brad and Ray are not actors.
ROMANO: Wait a minute.
BOYLE: They're not even performers, really. They're these needy, desperate guys.
KING: For example, the only -- of the five people on this show, the only two with complexes are you and Brad, right?
GARRETT: I have it down to four personalities.
KING: No, but you are a comic who acts.
(CROSSTALK)
These are actors who do comedic acting. You are comedians who are doing acting. Is that hard for you, Peter?
BOYLE: No, it's not hard on me. But I really have to comment on that. When we first started working, Ray was -- Ray would be like very shocked that he would say something and that other people would answer him.
(LAUGHTER)
He's used to being on stage alone. And I'd come towards him and there would be this like -- but what's great about Ray is he always makes eye contact which is really an instinctive acting thing.
HEATON: Then he faints right afterward.
GARRETT: But you have to do it in the restroom. The eye contact in the restroom.
KING: Did you find it difficult, Doris?
ROBERTS: No. And I think what has happened with both of them, certainly with Ray, is extraordinary. And I think the night...
KING: Because it is, I mean, a unique combination.
ROBERTS: Yes. And I think the night we did "Saturday Night Live" and he did an imitation...
ROMANO: Of Benigni.
ROBERTS: ... of Benigni. I came running because he made a leap as an actor that I've never seen.
ROMANO: You know, those "Saturday Night Live" people, they were good with the makeup, with the prosthetics.
ROBERTS: No, no, no, no. It was your attitude.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: See, he won't accept it.
ROBERTS: He still thinks he's a failure.
KING: You are basically, Richard Lewis.
ROBERTS: Only Italian.
BOYLE: If Ray is happy, I'm worried. If he's unhappy, everything's going to work out.
KING: Patricia, did you find it difficult working with comics?
HEATON: He just -- even though he's not an actor, he found it easy to give notes to everyone. You still do.
KING: Gives notes? HEATON: Gives notes.
ROMANO: Acting notes. I give acting notes.
HEATON: He gives acting notes.
GARRETT: But he's right. That's the interesting...
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANO: In my own defense...
HEATON: But you know that saying though, you know, those that can do and those that can't teach. And so I think that's what you're doing, right?
ROMANO: No, no, let me defend myself. I'm in the writers' room, so I know -- I kind of know what's going on and what we're looking for and that's the only I'm doing...
HEATON: I remember one rehearsal, it was the first scene of the first day of rehearsal. I had one word in my first line which was like -- a good two words -- good morning. I walk in. I say, good morning. And he said, wait, wait, wait. It has to be a little perkier than that. First day of rehearsal.
ROMANO: When was that?
HEATON: This is year one.
GARRETT: The year you were drinking.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANO: She was. She was slurring her words.
KING: You worked while pregnant, right?
HEATON: Twice. I sprung that on them after the pilot. I got pregnant my first year and the third year.
ROMANO: We had to hide it.
HEATON: They had to hide it.
KING: Do you like playing with kids, Brad?
GARRETT: It's interesting, you know...
KING: They're good.
GARRETT: Yes, they're good kids. You know, they're not twins. There's one -- we use mirrors. I don't know if you notice. And it just cuts down on the rehearsal time.
KING: W.C. Fields said don't work with them. GARRETT: Yes, well -- yes.
ROMANO: I think one of the best scenes all year is coming up a week from -- let's see, this is going to air -- it's coming up next week, on next week's show with Madeline (ph).
HEATON: Yes. She's terrific in this episode.
ROMANO: We don't use them a lot, the kids. But, you know, you appreciate it more when they're not there.
KING: You like the live audience, Peter?
BOYLE: That's the reward for me. I'm uncomfortable with four cameras. I'm uncomfortable with having to know my lines. Everybody will attest to that. But I love the reaction of the audience.
KING: A veteran actor is uncomfortable with knowing lines?
BOYLE: Well, you've got 12 writers sitting there, saying, you know, that's an and and not a the.
ROMANO: It's different in a film where...
ROBERTS: I love an audience. It's like doing a one-night play every week.
KING: When were you a monk?
BOYLE: When was I a monk?
ROBERTS: Last week.
BOYLE: Right after the death of Stalin, actually.
KING: That made you -- you were that depressed?
BOYLE: And I didn't know what was coming. And I went uh-oh, they're going to test the hydrogen bomb. So I went into a...
KING: A monastary.
BOYLE: ... and became a Christian brother. I was taught by the Christian brothers. I went to Christian high school.
KING: Did you ever want to be a priest?
BOYLE: No, no. I wanted to be a monk. I wanted to be a teacher, actually.
KING: How long were you a monk?
BOYLE: I did my college work in there. I was a novice monk for one year of training, then a student or a scholastic for three years.
KING: They spoke, though, right? BOYLE: Only at certain times. It was very interesting for a guy like me who is a compulsive talker.
KING: Boy, I bet.
BOYLE: But silence occasionally is profound.
KING: Did you ever try it, Brad?
GARRETT: No, but I love the robe.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: We'll be back with our remaining moments with the cast of...
ROMANO: Ever try silence?
KING: We'll be back with more of "Everybody Loves Raymond" right after this. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND")
BOYLE: This knob is nothing. I was once so jealous over your mother that I put my fist through a DeSoto.
ROMANO: You punched a car?
BOYLE: Yes. Your mother and I were still dating, but she started to turn the screws on me to get engaged. But there were still plenty of fish in the sea and I wasn't ready to hang up my tackle box.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We're back with the cast of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Truth, do you run and watch the ratings every week?
ROMANO: I make the phone call on Tuesday morning, yes.
HEATON: And then we all ask him.
KING: And then, let's say it drops two-tenths of a point. Do you analyze the show?
ROMANO: Well, I try to...
ROBERTS: You.
ROMANO: Yes.
KING: You'd be the wrong guy for...
HEATON: If it goes back up, he tells us why it doesn't really mean anything, that's what he does. He tells us, oh, well, that's because...
ROMANO: So and so was a rerun or whatever. I try to keep you in your place. That's what I'm trying to do.
ROBERTS: Doesn't celebrate it. He really doesn't celebrate.
KING: He does not?
BOYLE: It's called the superstition of pessimism. As long as you think things are bad, they're going to be good.
KING: Do you get down if it drops a fraction?
ROBERTS: No, he smiles, actually.
KING: He expects it to drop.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: I told you.
ROMANO: You know, we've been good so far. You know, it's been a steady climb every year, but there will be a time where maybe, you know...
KING: How involved is Mr. Letterman?
GARRETT: Who?
(LAUGHTER)
BOYLE: He doesn't speak to any of us.
KING: You don't see him?
ROMANO: You know, he is...
GARRETT: He loves Ray.
KING: Do you talk to him?
ROMANO: When I do the show, when I do Letterman, I talk to him.
KING: No, but other than that?
ROMANO: Not really, no. The first year, Rob Burnett, the producer, was kind of hands on every week.
KING: He's no longer with him.
ROMANO: He's still with him, in a way.
GARRETT: You know who keeps calling me? Merv. Oooh, you're a big guy. I don't know what that means. Oooh, wear the uniform. I'm at the Hilton. I don't know what that is.
KING: He's falling down now because Merv watches.
GARRETT: You know, he gave me -- when I was 21 years old, I was on his show doing stand-up.
KING: Didn't you win -- you won on what show?
HEATON: "Star Search."
GARRETT: Jews on Ice. No, "Star Search".
(CROSSTALK)
But I went on Merv before that.
KING: You were the first champ on "Star Search"?
ROMANO: Has every penny.
KING: Ed McMahon.
GARRETT: Ed McMahon, yes.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: People had to call in and vote for you?
GARRETT: That's right. But Merv really gave me one of my...
ROMANO: It's the same stress. Charles Nelson, Larry King, Ed McMahon. They're just variations.
KING: So, Ray, are you say that Letterman isn't an active producer?
ROMANO: No. He just watches from afar. He'll watch the show now and then. I mean, Rob Burnett would tell me that he would comment, watch the tapes and comment. But he...
KING: It's his company.
ROMANO: Yes. But he trusts us. He lets us go.
ROBERTS: Because it is HBO as well as CBS.
ROMANO: HBO is involved also.
KING: And we own -- AOL Time Warner owns HBO. So technically...
ROMANO: It's all one big family.
KING: We're all one big...
BOYLE: It's a global conspiracy.
KING: What do you think about the possibility of him moving?
ROMANO: To ABC?
KING: Yes.
ROMANO: That would get weird because that would be like two divorced parents and we're the children. You know, we don't know where to go.
KING: Moonves and Letterman would be divorcing.
ROMANO: Yes.
KING: And it's already said that they don't really get along that great.
ROMANO: Yes.
HEATON: There's a big article in the "New York Times."
KING: How did you react to that?
HEATON: I find it interesting. I think we and Letterman are two of CBS' biggest hits, CSI, those are like the three big ones. So it would be tough for CBS.
KING: But you're committed to CBS, aren't you, Doris?
HEATON: Well, Doris was going to do the same thing as Letterman did, right?
KING: You're going to move too?
HEATON: If it works for Dave, she's going to take a walk.
ROMANO: She's taking over "Nightline."
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: It will be a different show, though.
KING: Do you have any reaction to all this, Peter?
BOYLE: I don't know. It's just corporate intrigue and game playing. I just, you know...
KING: You stay away from it.
BOYLE: I hate it. I hate it. I mean, I like to watch it at a distance but I...
KING: If Letterman left, could he pull your show over to ABC?
ROMANO: No. I was just wondering if they have like -- if it gets ugly, are we going to be able to do Letterman show or will Les let us do Letterman, that kind of thing.
ROBERTS: Maybe not, because it being an ABC show, I doubt that ABC...
ROMANO: Yes, but -- I don't know. It gets weird. Who knows? If two parents divorce, you go with the mommy. So who would be the mommy?
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Who's the mommy?
GARRETT: See, in the old days, it didn't matter. I mean, no one cared if you're -- you could be on everyone's show in those days. I did Merv. I did "Card Sharks." And I would go back and forth.
KING: You did "Card Sharks?"
GARRETT: Oooh, it's a fun game with cards.
KING: Do you do a lot of imitations?
GARRETT: Not well. I do a couple.
HEATON: Gregory Peck. Gregory Peck.
GARRETT: Yes, well I do a little bit of the Cosby. You see, ha- ha! See, tell Larry, we're going to move the Italians to Monday.
ROMANO: That's funny, right? Six years of that.
KING: Oh, he does it hanging around, huh?
GARRETT: It's my release.
KING: Has your confidence grown with the success of the show? Peter is shaking no before I finish the sentence.
BOYLE: I don't want Ray's confidence to grow because the success in the show is dependent on Ray's confidence being low.
ROMANO: Well, but, it's so hard, you know, writing comedy and doing comedy. It's so hard that you can't get, you know, too wrapped up in it anyway because you've got another show coming up next week, so that's good. You know, you got 22 minutes every week you got to do.
KING: The dying actor was right when he said dying the easy, comedy is hard.
ROMANO: I'm going to add golf to that. Comedy and golf. Are you a golfer?
KING: No. But I've interviewed many, many who play the game. I don't understand why they play it.
ROMANO: Yes, it is kind of weird.
KING: Because it -- do you play? BOYLE: No. I can't take the frustration.
KING: I know. I...
BOYLE: I do too many things badly anyway.
GARRETT: I love the clothes.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: That and the monk's thing.
HEATON: Especially at your height.
GARRETT: On my height.
HEATON: Plaid is fabulous on a six-foot guy.
KING: Do any of you think beyond this program? Doris, do you think about, hey, some day, you know, nothing is forever?
ROBERTS: Well, there's no question about it. I've been in the business for 45 years, so I know that. I'd like to go back to Broadway.
KING: Peter?
BOYLE: I want to go back to being a monk, because now I'm ready to shut up for a couple of years.
KING: Do you think beyond this show?
BOYLE: I enjoy doing "Monster's Ball" I enjoyed doing movies and I would keep doing that as long as I could.
KING: We'll ask the other three the same thing. We're back with more. The cast of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND")
ROMANO: Show me what to do! Just draw it out for me.
HEATON: Have you ever thought about giving me a hug?
ROMANO: A hug!
HEATON: Yes, a hug. Did you ever think of hugging me, you jerk?
ROMANO: Well, it is pretty hard to hug someone who is trying to kill you.
HEATON: Well, it never occurred to you. You've never even tried it before.
ROMANO: Well, look, this is not huggable. This is not Debra. This is the woman who shows up once a month to rip into me like a monkey on a cupcake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We're back. Do you think beyond this show, Brad? Beyond -- I mean, do you say someday the show is going -- I mean, nothing is forever, so say five years...
GARRETT: I don't think I should judge your show. I think it's fabulous. I really -- I don't know. You know, I started out in hand modeling.
(LAUGHTER)
I don't know if you know that, I used to hold the spoon for the Hungry Jack breakfast man.
KING: And Maybelline (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
GARRETT: And Maybelline. Did a lot of that. I was the first to shave my back on national television.
Sure, sure. You think beyond it. Ray said, you know, if it ever gets rough, I could always work the lobby in his house.
ROMANO: The gift shop, I said.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Patricia, do you think beyond? What with four kids?
HEATON: I have four kids, so you have to. And we all know, even the best show, the longest -- what's the longest running show, "Frasier" now?
ROMANO: "M.A.S.H." went 11.
HEATON: Eleven, that's a long time.
ROMANO: "Cheers" went 11.
GARRETT: Drive a truck up to his house and go...
KING: Would you say right now you would do 11?
ROMANO: I'll say what I've been saying, if the stories are good and they're fresh and we're not running out of stuff to do, then we'll do it. Yeah.
HEATON: Yeah, but at some point, you have to decide that in advance.
ROMANO: Yeah, well, we will decide it in advance.
KING: They want to know. Tell them. ROMANO: Like on "LARRY KING?"
KING: Are their jobs secure?
ROMANO: For this year and next year, absolutely. Yeah.
KING: How about the year after?
HEATON: Yeah.
ROMANO: You know, we have to see.
HEATON: How about it, Ray?
BOYLE: Come on, Ray.
ROMANO: Look, it's not only up to me. There's the head writer that has to decide whether he's staying or leaving.
GARRETT: We don't need him.
ROMANO: Yeah.
(CROSSTALK)
HEATON: It's all up to you.
ROMANO: I just don't want the show to leave on a down note.
KING: You wanted to leave at the top?
GARRETT: Remember when "Sabrina" lost its edge?
KING: You knew John Lennon?
BOYLE: Yes, that's true.
KING: As a friend?
BOYLE: We became friends. My wife was a journalist doing an article about Mel Brooks for "Rolling Stone" magazine, and she was friendly with Yoko Ono. And John and Yoko were separated at that point, and John was doing -- producing a record with Harry Nielsen (ph) in L.A., and we got together and got along. And we became friendly, and we would have dinner a lot.
KING: What was special about him?
BOYLE: His mind was amazing, just amazing.
KING: Bright?
BOYLE: Bright, driven, obsessive, and amazing jumps and frames of references, and very funny.
KING: Were you in New York when he was shot? BOYLE: Yes, but that was the -- the night he was shot, we were waiting for my daughter to be born. My daughter, whose name is Lucy, who is -- so the night John was shot was our due date.
KING: Lucy in the sky with diamonds?
BOYLE: I think so.
KING: You opened for Sinatra?
GARRETT: Yeah.
KING: My man Frank?
GARRETT: Yeah.
KING: What was that like?
GARRETT: It was marvelous, baby. I did it near the end, so you know, so he kept calling me Greg. He was going, Greg Barrett, marvelous. It was a lot of fun.
KING: Was that when he was like having to read from the TelePrompTer?
GARRETT: Actually, one night he went -- the summer wind is a tramp. You know, and then all the guys with the holsters when, go home. We'll call you.
KING: That's pressure, though. To open for Sinatra. Because you know everybody there is to see Frank.
GARRETT: Well, you know, I mean, you walk out there, and it's, Frankie! Everybody wears ties and dark glasses. You know, and they're not there to see you. And he would come on whenever he wanted. You never knew how long you were doing. In stand-up, you have to know, and he would just come to wings and go, "that's enough, Greg." He'd come on and slip you a cufflink in your hand, and you go up to your room and cut yourself shaving.
KING: Generous guy, though, right?
GARRETT: Incredibly generous. Yeah. I had a shot at all the women he didn't want. It was just great.
KING: Were you ever an opening act?
ROMANO: Yes, I was.
KING: Who did you open for?
ROMANO: I opened for Jimmy Roselli (ph).
KING: In Philly?
ROMANO: No, in Atlantic City. That was -- a little story? I don't know. You know, I'm not that familiar with Jimmy Roselli (ph).
KING: Jimmy Roselli (ph) is a great, non-famous singer.
ROMANO: Sure, sure. And I get there, and I'm opening for him. My first big opening thing. And afterward, the agent comes backstage and goes, hey, good job. And He goes, "do you have a suit, you know?" And I was wearing a jacket, I was wearing a sports jacket. I was wearing a sports jacket. I go, no, I have one at home, in Queens, you know. He goes, "can you get it?" I go, I don't -- how can I get it for tomorrow? You know. So they sent a limo to my wife in Queens -- my suit got a limo ride back.
GARRETT: He learned his lesson about dressing, didn't he?
ROMANO: Trying to mix it up here. It's Abby road.
KING: The people wanted you to have a suit?
ROMANO: Yeah. Respect -- you know, Jimmy's in a tux. Jimmy was always in a tux.
KING: Is an opening act a tough gig?
ROMANO: In Atlantic City, it is. In Atlantic City, they're not even seated. They're milling them in. You know, they got the quarters still. Yeah, so it can be a tough gig. It depends.
KING: You got to get them right away, don't you?
ROMANO: Depends who you got.
KING: In a Broadway play, do you know how well you're doing when you're in a drama?
ROBERTS: Oh, yeah.
KING: You do?
ROBERTS: Yeah.
KING: I mean, because there's no laughter to work off of.
ROBERTS: No, but you can feel an audience.
KING: Have you done?
HEATON: I did one Broadway musical. It was a black gospel musical, and I was one of two white singers in it. Called "Don't Get God Started." Irish Catholic girl from Cleveland knocks them dead in a black Broadway gospel.
KING: You sing, too?
HEATON: Yeah.
ROMANO: Yeah. She's a singer. She can sing the anthem. KING: Do you go out and do singing?
HEATON: No, I don't. You know, I haven't sung for a while. I just did a breast cancer benefit where I sang. But otherwise, I mean, I basically go home and be with the kids.
ROMANO: What did you sing?
HEATON: A Broadway tune.
KING: When is hiatus? When do you stop?
ROBERTS: The end of March.
ROMANO: Four more weeks. We got four more shows.
KING: And then you're off for how long?
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANO: Well, we start filming again in August.
KING: So what will you do over this summer?
BOYLE: I'll be back home in New York. I'll be in Manhattan. I'll go to the Knicks games if they make the playoffs.
KING: Forget that.
BOYLE: If not, forget that. I'll be out in the Hamptons. I'll travel a little bit.
GARRETT: What address?
BOYLE: I'm doing a movie. Going to do a couple of movies. One called "Santa Claus 2."
KING: Oh, get all that in. Doris, what are you going to do?
ROBERTS: I don't know yet. I'll probably do a movie for CBS over the summer hiatus.
KING: You got to work.
ROBERTS: I travel. I do, I'm a workaholic.
KING: Patricia?
HEATON: Yeah, I'll be finishing my book and probably do a movie and maybe go to England with my husband and the kids.
KING: And you go to New York to do "Chicago"?
HEATON: Well, we're all going to go to see Brad.
GARRETT: No, I'm going to England with the husband and the kids. KING: When do you open "Chicago"?
GARRETT: The last week in June.
KING: I'm going to go see it.
GARRETT: Will you really?
KING: Ray, what are you going to do?
ROMANO: I'm going to open up a Hooters franchise. No, if I don't get a film, which it probably looks like we won't have one ready, I've got a two-week, three-week comedy tour in the Midwest, and then a couple of things.
KING: Thank you all very much. Good luck. Win all three categories on Sunday night. Keep doing what you do, because what you do you do great.
HEATON: Thank you.
BOYLE: Thank you.
ROMANO: Thank you.
GARRETT: Thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: What a great cast. It's easy to see why "Everybody Loves Raymond" is such a hit and why the show has 11 Emmy nominations.
We're back live tomorrow night. Until then, good evening.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
